Maharashtra: Sarang Punekar, the first highly educated transgender to study at Savitribai Phule University in Pune, has ended her life in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Sarang Punekar was highly educated. She was the first transgender student at Savitribai Phule University. She was cremated in Pune on Thursday. She had participated in many movements for transgenders. During the lockdown, Sarang Punekar did significant work for the underprivileged in Pune. She was the first student from the transgender community to pursue higher education. Sarang Punekar was living with the transgender community in Jaipur, Rajasthan. She was also working for the transgender community there. We had asked Sarang about returning to Pune, Ashwini Satav told The Indian Express. Sarang Punekar was a supporter of the Ambedkar movement. She had raised her voice against NRC and CAA Dr Anagha Tambe, head of the Department of Women’s Studies at SPPU, said, Her presence as the first transgender student in the university was a unique experience for us both academically and administratively.
Among those who bid adieu to Sarang Punekar was Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) party leader Sushma Andhare. Sarang Punekar had made a name for herself in a short span of time as a passionate speaker and advocate of gender rights and other issues. “Even as a student, Punekar brought a new perspective to gender studies. Sarang wanted to learn more and do original work on the language and customs of the Sarang community. As a society, it is our failure that we could not support Sarang’s dreams,” she said. Sarang Punekar worked as the regional coordinator for North Maharashtra at Samyak, a Pune-based NGO that works on underprivileged women and gender discrimination. “It has always been common for transgender people to work in HIV prevention programmes in the development sector. But she broke this stereotype and worked for abortion rights. As a coordinator, she successfully implemented this project,” she said.
